#the world's smallest depiction of rom

[subzeroparade]

Im playing my first NG+ and it’s striking to me how bustling and alive Yarnam is while the sun is still up. The people scoff at you, outsider. The residents of Cathedral Ward are grateful, so grateful, to the church. You’re known as a hunter, smelled through the grime of beasts and blood and incense. You talk to someone; they respond with sanity. It’s so striking, to be part of a breathing world again, after the loneliness of the endgame after everyone is either gone or lost their minds, and the silence oppresses with its emptiness. Anyways. I can’t stop thinking about that relationship between Yarnam, its people, its powers, and you — the hunter. One of many. A slice of society. So many details stick out: the hunter chief emblem shows that hunting is an old tradition. Gilbert mentions that Odeon Tomb is in a more colorful part of town, and while you’re there, you can see how it’s more charred, from the Old Yarnam fire. A new lore video on the archeology of Yarnam analyzed the previous religion of the city, on its focus on motherhood. How base, and material, and bodily, this whole idea of divine ascension is. I saw a post on how Yarnam was possibly attempted to be evacuated— luggage and bottles of blood left everywhere, as if in a hurry. How few houses are occupied, how few people there are left— and despite Eileen’s assertion, there are a few left. Who here is the list one?

I so want to write about this — the relationship of the city to all of what’s going on. The perspective of a resident on these new foreign hunters. The betrayal of the church, sequestering itself beyond the Great Bridge. The way that this is just another hunt, we know how to do this. But it isn’t. We all know it isn’t.

I don’t know if I will espouse on this, but I love love love how you get into this in your Cainhurst execution fic. The tension between plebeian living and aspirational authority — its fascinating, especially in a place as fucked as this city.

Anyways. It’s 3 am. I think I’ve put my thoughts on a page. I hope to maybe elaborate of them further. But I wanted someone else to see them too. Thank you, for reading.

I wanted to actually share and respond to this because you’ve hit on some juicy stuff that I absolutely agree with. I’d never thought about the passage between endgame Yharnam and dusk Yharnam - which seems appropriately cyclical, if you think about it - but the difference, as you said, is stark. Even then, dusk Yharnam is still bathed in this sepia hue. It’s bleak, and grimy, and the air is full of smoke and soot and the smell of singed fur and gunpowder; the cries of beasts and the sounds of men having their last mindless hurrah before they too succumb. It’s “bustling”, but it’s still hellish, and grim. One of the reasons I love writing pre-Church and Church heyday is because if you rewind enough, you may, with a bit of effort, picture Yharnam as something other than depressingly dried-blood brown - green, even, with new marble, and polished white and yellow cobblestones. Glass and iron and slate and avenues lined with flowering trees, and the sounds of market and the clatter of carriages and all these things that become the drone of a lively city rather than the prelude to something coming to kill you. Surely there were bleaker sides of Yharnam, even in its heyday, as with most major cities - but the threats are different. Night is different. The smells are different. Everything is a little less stained, in all possible senses of the word. It’s also such a fascinating contrast to wonder how long people sat idly with the Church’s assurances before they decided “okay, that’s it, we leave tonight.” It seems like there might have been an event or two that triggered an exodus, or attempted flight by the cityfolk - and most didn’t make it out, as you rightly note, based on the scattered remnants of objects clearly intended for travel. It’s interesting to mull over what event(s) might have triggered that tipping point, for the people to finally ignore the Church and its Hunters’ calls to calmly lock their doors, and instead try their luck on the road. It’s certainly good fodder for a fic.   

Thanks for the kind words about my work - I’ll deal with some late-Church timeline soon enough, especially in two upcoming fics. But your point about the “perspective of a resident on new foreign hunters [and] the betrayal of the Church” is a really nice prompt, and you should write about it!

Hope you don’t mind me sharing your 3am rant lmao but I appreciated it. I don’t have any worthwhile WIPs to share atm, so please accept this Bloodborne-specific corner of a collaborative whiteboard session from a while ago (full disclosure idk why the elden ring crab is there but enjoy).  

[paleblood-skyler]

Some thoughts on my fascination with the horrible places in BB and DeS

...or how I learned to stop worrying and enjoy the swamp..?

Some area spoilers for Demon’s Souls, since that’s probably the least played one, as the Valley of Defilement got me thinking more about the role and strange beauty of awful places in Soulsborne.

In every Dark Souls game, you get some eye candy. Whether it’s Anor Londo, Heide, the Dragon Aerie, Irithyll, or the Ringed City, there are vistas of plain aesthetic beauty that serve as a sort of reward for getting as far as you have. But as I was trudging through the poison swamp in the Valley of Defilement, it struck me that Bloodborne and Demon’s Souls don’t really have an equivalent for that striking vista. It seems somewhat natural in BB’s case since it’s oriented toward horror and doesn’t quite allow for the same kind of jaw-dropping visual moments in the traditional sense. But DeS, while certainly oriented more toward horror than its Dark Souls cousins, is a similar medieval fantasy game that is composed solely of the absolute worst places one can find themselves in. BB and DeS have no straightforwardly visual respite, no reward of towering grandeur to appease the downtrodden adventurer. Prisons are succeeded by swamps, swamps are succeeded by toxic hamlets, and the putrid dregs of human life and society seem to go on without end. Everything has reached a ripe stage of decadence, and to possibly make matters worse, the player is here to advance the cycle of misery and violation.

Standing in the Valley of Defilement, you see all the imaginable and unimaginable refuse of humanity filtering into the depths, a place where some have found a home. It is inarguably vile with its slugs, plague-bearing rodents, and fetuses that have seeped slowly to the ultimate pools where they fester interminably. Yet I couldn’t help but feel that this place was at least very honest. The Souls games often have an infection of illusions, the evils of the world being the falsities and the lies thrust upon the masses by those with the power to manufacture falsities and lies. Then how strangely refreshing it is to be knee-deep in a swamp that is so unashamedly a true representation of what it is. There are no lies here, what you see is what you get. The Valley is both defiled and a site of infinitely continuing defilement, and yet there’s this nugget of realness and purity at the heart of it (even literally, if you know what I mean).

Miyazaki’s games quickly became infamous for the dreary depictions of their worlds, and in response to this he said something simple like “the alternative doesn’t seem realistic to me.” It was a very natural direction, and it’s indicative of a core philosophy that drove many aspects of the Soulsborne experience, including the challenge. The game isn’t interested in allowing the player to win and progress with ease--it’s much more interested in the process of figuring out an encounter, struggling with it, and eventually gritting it out and coming to an understanding that enriches the player. It’s such a natural direction that--if memory serves--Bloodborne’s pre-release material made next to no mention of the game’s difficulty. This is just a manifestation of the kind of idea that populates the world with prisons, swamps, and violated villages.

I’ve been ruminating on finding the definition of this core idea. You could certainly call it the scarcity of beauty, but this is something of a negative definition that focuses on the lack of a thing rather than the thing itself, which doesn’t feel Soulsish to me. Maybe most of all it can be described as the simple joy of the process and the dispelling of illusions. The joy of finding honesty in nightmare swamps; the joy of learning how to fight a tough boss; the dispelling of the illusion that reality is a way that it really isn’t; and the dispelling of the illusion that you can’t defeat the enemy. These ideas seem wonderfully eastern to me, as western thought by contrast is often preoccupied with results, rewards, and immediate pleasures. Eastern thought--specifically recalling Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism--by my shaky understanding, appears to be more interested in processes, the goodness of doing whatever one does, and the appreciation of whatever beauty happens to reveal itself on the way. The journey rather than the destination, I suppose. A beautifully manifested idea that truly distinguishes the likes of Souls from their western fantasy counterparts; encouraging one to appreciate the spectral shimmering and childlike demeaner of Rom upon her Moonside Lake, the humbling vistas of outer darkness opened by failed Great Ones, and the simple pleasure of learning the smallest of things--all because the world is tinged with heaviness, misfortune, and a deep sadness that makes the smallest and strangest of lights so captivating. I adore Irithyll, but lately I’ve been taken by this sense of “wholeness” and trueness that invisibly radiates from the blighted and dismal depths of these worlds. I’m so glad that of all the tropes, the horrible poisonous swamp is the one we can count on appearing in every Souls game--it’s rather emblematic of the way that they’re all built conceptually.

[kaveriniofficial]

Happy Birthday Nauru! Kaverini Nauru Adventures 2021 FAQ!

#Nauru Game FAQ! As promised!

Q: What is Nauru?

A: Nauru is the world's smallest independent republic located in the South Pacific. One of the least populous and least-visited countries on the planet, it also used to be hugely rich as a result of its phosphate deposits which brought it to independence earlier than most of the other nations of Oceania. Unfortunately, the phosphates ran out and the country went from one of the richest on earth to one of the poorest. Nauru's colonial name was "Pleasant Island", and Nauru is the German rendition of Anaoero / Naoero, roughly "I go to the beach".

Q: Why Nauru?

A: In addition to the sustainability lessons found in its history, I also wanted to make an open-world game for the first time (Nuuk Adventures is mission-based, much like Luigi's Mansion 2, so the world of Nuuk / Greenland in that game is not contingious). What's more, much like in Nuuk, there are many lessons to take from world history if you look at Nauru under the surface.

Q: What languages will the game be available in?

A: English, even if it weren't an international language / my native tongue, would be featured in the game because of the former colonial presence / living in the shadow of Australia. Nauruan is likely as well, but I'll need (1) lessons (I'll get myself a teacher after Nuuk is done) and (2) to alter the fonts in the game so that they account for Nauruan's accented letters seemlessly. Other considerations that may be given later down the line include German (former colonizer alongside Britain), Kiribati / Gilbertese (3rd most commonly spoken language on Nauru), Marshallese or even a Chinese language (I believe Taiwan / the ROC has a robust presence in Nauru for reasons you can imagine). English and Nauruan will definitely be included, though.

Q: I heard about the Australian migrant detention camps on Nauru? Are those going to be in the game?

A: It wouldn't be right for me to completely airbrush away things like that. Suffice it to say that nothing in any Kaverini game gets published without being vetted by people from multiple nationalities. Also I believe they're not functional anymore.

Q: Nuuk Adventures uses Danish kroner / crowns as its currency like real-life Greenland does. Will Nauru Adventures use the Australian dollar (AU$)?

A: Yes.

Q: When will Kaverini Nauru Adventures be released?

A: Too early to say. I am not going to be working on it in earnest until the Nuuk Adventures PC, Mobile and Switch versions are done, as well as all of the IndieGoGo rewards delivered to those who contributed to that campaign. Given that the Mobile and Switch versions are largely ports, it shouldn't take too long.

Q: Is Nauru going to be available on those platforms?

A: That is my plan. In addition to a GameBoy catridge.

Q: Gameboy...?

A: My first video game system was a GameBoy when I was 7. This is what we call a "demake". Even in the Unity version of the game (which is likely to happen because the GameBoy catridge can't support homebrew characters as easily, and I don't think I can sell ROMs on Steam) will be based on the GameBoy version, to be made in GB Studio. The music, sound effects, color palette and character limitations will all fall in line with what is possible on that system, although the Unity version may take liberty with some elements (much like the Shovel Knight series did with its colors, sound effect tracks, etc.)

Q: What about the voice acting and the testing Nuuk Adventures? 

A: Haven't forgotten, I've been polishing and debugging away and I want to get the best version of that game possible before implementing those other elements. This FAQ is about Nauru. Back to the Pacific with us.

Q: Nauru has the highest obesity rates in the world. Will you represent that in the game characters?

A: Again, if it is / was in real life, it goes in the game. No insensitive caricatures, however, and it is hard enough as is to depict such things in 32x32 pixels.

Q: Can I make my own character in Nauru Adventures?

A: In the PC / Unity versions, yes. For the GameBoy one it right now seems unlikely, especially for the cartridge version. But I am considering upping the amount of pre-set characters to make up for it (Nuuk has 20 preset characters).

Q: Pets like in Nuuk?

A: Unlikely in this game given the GB limitations.

Q: Gender options?

A: Nauruan is gender neutral in my experience, much like English is, so you don't even need to choose any gender option at all when you make your character.

Q: What about character diversity?

A: Ethnic Nauruans make up the majority of people on the island, but you'll also find Australians, I-Kiribati, Marshallese, Indians, Chinese and more! In 32x32 pixels, the differences may not be as clear but will be accentuated in other ways (e.g. dialogue, overworld details, etc.)

Q: Will there be Australian Rules Football as a minigame?

A: Too soon for me to say. Would you like that?

Q: Are you writing the music yourself for this game?

A: Yes. But if you know of a Nauruan composer who would be willing to help, get me in touch. It's paid work. The soundtrack is a lot slimmer, though, because GameBoy.

Q: The art style for Nuuk Adventures was influenced by Inuk artwork, will the same be true for Nauru?

A: Yes, but I'll need to soak myself in Nauruan culture more.

Q: In "Geography Now", it was said that there is a unique directional system that can only be used on Nauru. Will that be in the game?

A: Yes. What other game can I use it for? It's a hugely missed opportunity if I don't.

Q: How much will the game cost and where can I buy it?

A: I'm thinking 5 USD ($) on launch. Steam, my personal website, other online stores, possibly even physical copies for multiple gaming systems.

🇳🇷

[bestmovies0]

20 Oscar-Nominated Movies You Can Stream Right Now

From baby motorists to libidinous mermen, 2017 was a very good–and somewhat strange–year at the movies. And yet not even the pulse-pounding excitement of watching Daniel Day-Lewis consume yet another mushroom omelette could match the collective jaw-dropping that came in the final moments of last year’s Oscars ceremony, when the makers of La La Land handed their Best Video statuette over to the makers of Moonlight–the award’s actual winner–in what will likely go down as the weirdest instants and worst mix-ups in Academy Awards history. Could it happen again during this Sunday’s ceremony? Doubtful, but never say never.

Even still( or in cases where) you shouldn’t miss out on any of this year’s nominated films. For those of you planning to invest this week( and weekend) engaged in a non-stop Oscar marathon, here are 20 of this year’s nominated movies you can stream right now.

The Shape of Water

If you thought the merman sex was the most compelling thing about Guillermo del Toro’s fantastical fairy tale, you weren’t attaches great importance. The Shape of Water is much more brilliant than all the talk about its aquatic lovemaking let on. With its mingle of real-life and fantasy, it’s likewise pure del Toro. Sally Hawkins suns as Elisa Esposito, a mute cleaning woman at a top-secret government research center who one day stumbles upon an amphibious creature, falls in love, and smuggles him into her bathtub where their affair goes to the next degree.( It’s much more heartfelt and passionate than it sounds .) The film, which is nominated for 13 Oscars, might be most notable for its cast–most of whom, including Hawkins, Richard Jenkins( as Elisa’s BFF and neighbor ), and Octavia Spencer( as her coworker ), earned nominations for the performance of their duties.( Though Michael Shannon, amazingly, did not .) Folks “was talkin about a” Shape because of its more prurient aspects, but strip those away and it’s a narrative about adoration and otherness with a wonderfully humanist, if not entirely human, soul.

Where to stream it: Amazon Video, iTunes

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Though writer-director Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri was met with a joyful standing ovation following its premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September, it had now been gained as much backlash as it has accolades( largely because Sam Rockwell’s racist cop character is redeemed in the end ). Still, there’s no denying that it’s a film full of powerful performances–Rockwell, Frances McDormand, and Woody Harrelson are all vying for gold–and a story worth instruct: a young lady is raped and murdered in small-town Missouri. When it seems as if the local police have given up on ever observing the perpetrator, the young girl’s mom takes justice into her own hands, largely by shaming the local authorities. Though it would be easy to paint this kind of tale in broad-spectrum brush strokes–an angry woman gets even–playwright-turned-filmmaker Martin McDonagh doesn’t go for easy.

Where to stream it: Amazon Video, iTunes

Lady Bird

Like most teens, Christine “Lady Bird” MacPherson( Saoirse Ronan) doesn’t ever feel like she quite fits in with her fellow classmates. Hankering for something more than what she has, the movie follows Lady Bird through her senior time of high school, where even the smallest aggravations( like, say, one’s mother) feeling immense. While with hour and distance, it’s easy to see that the interesting thing don’t matter so much, it doesn’t feel that style when they’re pas, which is part of what stimulates Lady Bird so unique. Writer-director Greta Gerwig, who is now one of a small handful of women to be nominated for Best Director, manages to capture the reality of the transition into adulthood with all the pain and humor that comes with it.

Where to stream it: Amazon Video, iTunes

Call Me by Your Name

Though set in 1983, there’s something totally modern about Call Me By Your Name, director Luca Guadagnino’s dreamy modification of Andre Aciman’s acclaimed coming-of-age novel. A precocious teen( Timothee Chalamet) observes himself both embracing and fight with the universal awkwardness that comes with giving oneself over to a first love, which is stimulated even more difficult by the fact that it’s with a 24 -year-old grad student( Armie Hammer) who is living with his family and interning for his father. The film’s dreamy sensuality will stick with you long after the end credits roll, and you’ll never look at a pitted peach the same route again.

Where to stream it: Amazon Video, iTunes

Darkest Hour

Though director Joe Wright may be best knows we attaining lush interval dramas starring Keira Knightley, his unwavering attention to detail and the past induce him a perfect fit to recount Winston Churchill’s earliest days as Prime Minister, and the history-altering decisions he was faced with inducing when it came to dealing with Adolf Hitler. As far as biopics or historical movies go, Darkest Hour is rather straightforward–which isn’t a knock on the movie. Yet where it truly stands out is in the acting. Though Gary Oldman is far from the only actor to ever play Winston Churchill( he’s not even the only person to play Churchill in the past time ), the quirky gravitas that has celebrated the actor’s job seems perfectly suited to the part.

Where to stream it: Amazon Video, iTunes

Get Out

Having reached the “meet the parents” stage in its relations, Chris Washington( Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend Rose Armitage( Allison Williams) head off to an upper-class suburbium to expend the weekend with her folks( Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener ). But from the get-go, Chris senses that something’s not OK with the situation. He’s right. With Get Out, Jordan Peele managed to simultaneously redefine the modern horror movie, while making a statement on race in America–and the timing could not have been better.

Where to stream it: Amazon, HBO Go, iTunes

Dunkirk

Watching Dunkirk on your iPhone isn’t truly the behavior that Christopher Nolan envisaged audiences experiencing his IMAX-ready World War II thriller, which details the hectic evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France as Nazi armies began closing in all around them. So if you can at least watch this one on your TV, that’s preferrable. Like with his previous cinemas, Nolan once again demonstrates himself adept at blending action and nuance. But in the case of Dunkirk, it’s composer Hans Zimmer who is tasked with ratcheting up the nervousnes as the destiny of the film’s seemingly fated soldiers hangs in the balance.

Where to stream it: Amazon Video, iTunes

Blade Runner 2049

While it may not have built the financial impact that Warner Bros. was hoping for, much like Mad Max: Fury Road before it, Blade Runner 2049 is only one of the few sequel/ reboot hybrids that isn’t simply cashing in on a cult following for instant brand-name acceptance. Whether you connect with Denis Villeneuve stark, dystopian vision of the future or not, there’s no denying he’s a natural born filmmaker( assure: Hostages, Enemy, Sicario, Arrival ). While it’s technically a sequel, it seems more like a spiritual comrade part. Ryan Gosling is perfectly cast as Agent K, a young blade runner urgently trying to track down Rick Deckard, Harrison Ford’s blade runner from the Ridley Scott original, who has been missing for 30 years. When they do satisfy, watching the two performers try to out-dry each other more than makes up for the two-hour-and-4 5-minute operating time–as does the brilliant camerawork of frequent Coen friends collaborator Roger Deakins who, with 14 Oscar nominations and zero wins, has become the Susan Lucci of cinematography.

Where to stream it: Amazon Video, iTunes

The Florida Project

While growing up mere minutes from Walt Disney World may sound like the dream of every child, for Moonee( Brooklynn Prince )– a profanity-spewing six-year-old who lives in a motel with her mommy( Bria Vinaite )– and her motley group of friends, the Sunshine State is still far from The Happiest Place on Earth. The Florida Project details a summer in the living standards of these children, who are often forced to grow up before their day. In a different time, Sean Baker’s The Florida Project might have been the Oscars’ favorite little indie movie that could, with its brutally honest depiction of life in Donald Trump’s America. For now, we’ll have to be satisfied with Willem Dafoe’s well-earned Best Supporting Actor nomination for playing Bobby, the motel manager who understands Moonee’s plight and does his best to look the other way.

Where to stream it: Amazon Video, iTunes

Abacus: Small-scale Enough to Jail

Hoop Dreams director Steve James has dedicated much of his job to shining a light on the underdogs, and his newest documentary is no exception. While, in the wake of the 2008 fiscal meltdown, many of Wall Street’s biggest players were deemed “too big to fail” despite their many intentional misdeeds, person needed to be made an example of. And that someone was Abacus Federal Savings, a family-owned and operated community bank that was indicted for mortgage hoax by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. This engrossing documentary shows the truth of the matter( the bank’s 0.5 percent mortgage default rate was a tenth of the national median) and the personal toll that it takes for David to go up against Goliath.

Where to stream it: Amazon Prime, iTunes

The Big Sick

There’s something to be said about writing what you know, as husband-and-wife writing team Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon proved that with The Big Sick, a semi-autobiographical accounting of the evolution of their relationship. What started as a possible one-night-stand developing into a relationship, then a breakup, then a near-death experience that brought them back together, in part thanks to Emily’s( Zoe Kazan) parents, Beth and Terry( Holly Hunter and Ray Romano ). Just when you thought every romantic-comedy trope had been discovered and done to death( no pun aimed ), The Big Sick manages to avoid them all, yet still have some “aww…” moments.

Where to stream it: Amazon Prime, iTunes

Baby Driver

Somewhere between Drive and La La Land is Baby Driver, Edgar Wright’s car chase-filled heist flick that introduced The Fault in Our Stars star Ansel Elgort to the non-Y-Aloving world. Elgort holds his own and then some against much more seasoned performers, including Jon Hamm( getting as far away from Don Draper as he can) and Jamie Foxx( who channels a bit of his character from Horrible Boss, and then some ). Kevin Spacey also stars, which could explain why the movie didn’t get as much Oscar attention as some predicted.

Where to stream it: Amazon Video, iTunes

Beauty and the Beast

When word came down that Disney was killing a live-action version of its beloved Beauty and the Beast, there were essentially two reactions: Yay! and Why? While, in the end, it may have all seemed a bit unnecessary to those who remain devoted to the animated version, there’s no denying the appeal of Emma Watson as Belle, a kind of anti-princess Disney princess. Even if you had no affinity for the original, or desire to watch its live-action offspring, witnessing what the actors–in particular, Dan Stevens as The Beast–had to endure in order to bring it to the screen at the least deserves a few minutes of your attention.

Where to stream it: Amazon Video, iTunes, Netflix

Icarus

If there was an Oscar for Best Accidental Documentary, Bryan Fogel would be the only challenger. In his effort to make a little cinema about the growing issue of performance-enhancing medications in the sports world, Fogel ended up get in touch with Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, the former director of Russia’s national anti-doping laboratory–and together, they slowly realized that their “research” has left them with clear proof that Russia had spent decades conspiring to game the Olympics. While its focus is on doping, the overarching themes speak loudly and clearly to the current state of disenchantment and propagandizing people are reading more and more about every day.

Where to stream it: Netflix

Last Men in Aleppo

At the 2017 Academy Awards, The White Helmets–a 41 -minute documentary about the brave men and women who volunteer as first responders in search and rescue efforts in portions of rebel-controlled Syria and Turkey–won Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara an Oscar for Best Short Documentary. This year, Feras Fayyad and Steen Johannessen’s feature documentary, Last Human in Aleppo, will once again shine a spotlight on the heroic organization, with boots-on-the-ground footage that was shot over two years, and immerses the spectator in what daily life is like for those living in the midst of the Syrian Civil War.

Where to stream it: Netflix, Amazon Video, iTunes

Logan

James Mangold has entered the realm of superhero filmmakers, by sheer morality of represent one of the few who has managed to not only craft a deep nuanced character drama that violates the shackles often associated with the genre–but by being recognized by the Academy( alongside co-writers Scott Frank and Michael Green) for doing just that. It’s a well-deserved tribute for Hugh Jackman’s last outing as a retractable-clawed mutant.

Where to stream it: Amazon Video, HBO Go, iTunes

Loving Vincent

CGI is all well and good, but there’s something to be said for pushing the boundaries of centuries-old techniques, which is exactly what Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman have done with Loving Vincent. The movie pays the ultimate tribute to its protagonist, Vincent van Gogh, by recruiting a squad of 125 artist to tell the story of the lord painter’s life … with oil painting. 65,000 frames worth of them.

Where to stream it: Amazon Video, iTunes

Mudbound

Netflix continues to show it can play with the the major studios with Dee Rees’ epic, post-WWII drama where class and race collide in rural areas in Mississippi. Accommodated by Rees and Virgil Williams from Hillary Jordan’s book of the same name, the movie depicts the unlikely friendship that develops between two soldiers–one white( Garrett Hedlund ), one black( Jason Mitchell )– as they resume their lives in the Jim Crow South, and are forced to deal with the PTSD that haunts them, and the racism that surrounds them. The film’s Oscar-nominated cinematographer, Rachel Morrison, had now been lent her eye to the year’s biggest movie in so far: Black Panther.

Where to stream it: Netflix

On Body and Soul

Director Ildiko Enyedi won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for this intense, albeit sometimes bizarre, Hungarian movie in which two shy coworkers at a slaughterhouse in Budapest forge a relationship in their daydreams( they keep having the same ones) and attempt to translate that to the waking world. Rating another win for Netflix.

Where to stream it: Netflix

The Disaster Artist

After spending more than a decade as a Hollywood punchline, Tommy Wiseau–the eccentric novelist/ administrator behind the so-bad-it’s-kind-of-amazing cult film The Room–finally got his critical due when James Franco decided to turn the construction of that movie into a movie all of its own, which is equal components funny, bizarre, and curiously moving. Eat your nerve out, Ed Wood.

Where to stream it: Amazon Video, iTunes

Oscars Overdrive

How Mudbound’s Rachel Morrison, the first woman to be nominated for the Academy Award for cinematography, took the world by cyclone with the stunning Black Panther

Dive deep behind the scenes of Blade Runner 2049, as told in our October 2016 cover story

Can a fish-man be emotionally appealing? The Shape of Water dares to find out

Catch up on reviews of Get Out, Logan, and Mudbound

from https://bestmovies.fun/2018/03/01/20-oscar-nominated-movies-you-can-stream-right-now/

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: Creative Spotlight: Mamoru Hatakeyama

Creative spotlights are easily digestible overviews of a director or animator’s body of work, style, and vision. My goal for these articles is to highlight some of the exceptional and possibly lesser-known creative voices in anime. I’m hoping these write-ups encourage people to explore more of what anime has to offer.

    The spotlight for this week will be on Mamoru Hatakeyama, one of the best storyboard talents in the industry who is most well-known for directing Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū.

  Although Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū was an anime that rightfully deserved its praise, there’s been little talk in the community about its director, Mamoru Hatakeyama. As a result of having few production credits (with many of them being adult OVAs under a different pseudonym), he is not the most recognizable name in the anime industry. However, when you comb through his more recent endeavours at Studio DEEN, you’ll find one of the most brilliant storyboard talents currently working on anime. Hatakeyama brings to the table an understated yet whimsical touch, which can turn normally mundane source material into an elaborate, theatrical journey.

  Hatakeyama previously went by the pseudonym of Shinichi Omata. Although he had worked on anime since the 90s, his most notable credits were from storyboarding episodes of popular SHAFT anime such as Madoka Magica and Hidamari Sketch. This period of time was an important part of the director’s career, as it was where he developed his modern directing style. It’s no coincidence that you’ll see shades of SHAFT’s in-house style in Hatakeyama’s anime, as his creative direction was heavily derived from their school of talent. Now operating within Studio DEEN, Hatakeyama loves to employ close-ups, rapid scene cuts and the occasional piece of minimalist symbolism in his works.

    Unlike some of SHAFT’s other directors, Hatakeyama’s style is quieter, with a primary focus on drawing you into the world of the characters in his anime and keeping you there. He’s a subtle master of atmosphere, mood, and set design, and it shouldn’t be a surprise that many of the anime he directs end up feeling like self-contained theatre plays – in both a figurative and literal sense. As a result, it’s easy to see why he was Studio DEEN’s top choice for directing Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū.

  Rakugo is a traditional Japanese performance art form featuring a lone storyteller. The stories are all well-known tales and their dialogue is set in stone. However, it’s up to the storyteller to breathe life into these texts, and make these words their own. During this solo performance, the rakugo artist whisks their audience away into these elaborate narratives through the smallest subtleties in their body language and voice. Their pitch, tone, and posture are all paramount in portraying a multitude of different characters for the audience. With only their bodies on stage, rakugo is truly a test of a storytellers’ ability to entertain.

  Likewise, the anime adaptation of Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū was also a test of Hatakeyama’s ability to entertain. Rakugo is not something that is easy to recreate in animation, let alone make engaging for audiences unfamiliar with the style of performance art. However, the Studio DEEN director was able to deliver rakugo performances that were both interesting and immersive. Hatakeyama’s strength has always been his thoughtful storyboarding. He’s the type of director that loves to depict people’s grittiest and most personal gestures; a real voyeur, if you will.

  In Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū, each storyteller’s quirks, charms, and faults are on full display. Hatakeyama captures initial performance nerves to roleplay swagger so naturally that watching a full, 20-minute performance feels effortless. Many rakugo performances are comprised of static shots of the storyteller, with the occasional cut to his hand or the back of his neck to emphasize a gesture; it’s not flashy cinematography by any stretch, but that doesn’t make it any less engrossing or effective. The focus is entirely on the storyteller, in many ways paying the deepest level of respect to rakugo as an art form.

    While Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū was undoubtedly Hatakeyama’s best realized work in terms of how his style complemented the material, two of his other anime bear mentioning for how they fit into his portfolio.

  Sankarea: Undying Love was his directorial debut at Studio DEEN, and although it’s worlds apart from Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū in content, remains an important entry in the director’s career. A zombie rom-com with clear highs and lows, Sankarea: Undying Love showed just how much of a difference Hatakeyama’s touch made. The first three episodes of the anime in particular stood out for their detailed storyboarding and dynamic layouts. During these episodes, the director delivered scenes which effectively captured the awkward interactions between the teenage protagonist and the heroine. Taking place in an abandoned bowling alley at night, he creates a mood that is playful and flirtatious, yet ultimately shows (through his use of close-up and perspective shots) that physical barriers exist between the characters. Sankarea: Undying Love was an anime with a mixed reception, but it’s hard to deny that Hatakeyama’s contributions were its best sections.  

    Additionally, Hatakeyama was also the puppet master behind Rozen Maiden: Zurückspulen. Airing in 2013 as a continuation of the adaptation of Peach Pit’s popular manga, the season was a cinematic departure from its previous installments. Between the Rozen Maiden franchise’s gothic character designs, battle royale setup, and liberal Alice in Wonderland motifs, Hatakeyama decided to take a more theatrical approach with the anime’s direction. He plays around with visual symbolism and multi-layered fairytale narratives through the anime to give form to its themes of dreams, memory, and personal existence. The end result of Hatakeyama’s efforts was a Rozen Maiden season that was more focused than its predecessors and able to capture an equivalent level of artistry as Peach Pit’s manga.

  Thanks to the roaring success of Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū, Mamoru Hatakeyama is finally beginning to enter the public’s eye. While he only has a handful of anime and episode credits under his belt, he’s proven to be one of the most vigilant storyboard talents in the industry. Be on the lookout for more of Hatakeyama’s anime, as his understated direction is sure to be worth your while!

    Let us know your thoughts about Mamoru Hatakeyama and Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū in the comments below!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com